Tertiary Menu

That whosover believeth in Him shall be totally fucked and betrayed

A blog (from "web blog") is a discussion or informational site consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed newest first. All Corrente posts are front-paged; there is no up-rate or down-rate process. Corrente posts are almost entirely community moderated. We encourage a clash of ideas, and do not encourage a clash of persons.

If you are the author of this post, see the Edit tab ad Help (and Advanced Help) for detailed documentation.

Primary tabs

As President Barack Obama heads into his second term, he faces a pessimistic and weary public, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released late Tuesday.

The percentage of Americans satisfied with the direction of the country stands at a paltry 23 percent in a poll taken Dec. 14-17. By a margin of 50 to 47 percent, respondents said the country's best years are over.

Fifty percent of respondents said it is somewhat or very unlikely that today's youth will have a better life than their parents.

That pessimism and negativity extends to the president, according to the poll.

No, seriously:

If Obama's job description was:

#1. Drowning government in a bath tub,

#2. Destroying any remaining hope that government can be a source of help

then he's doing a great job. Because it's one thing to destroy a system. It's quite another thing to destroy a system, and then make people believe that there's no "hope" of repairing or restoring it, ever. Obama's doing great on Job #1, but his even better performance on the more subtle and difficult Job #2 is not sufficiently appreciated.

NOTE Putting on my true cynic's hat -- it's not made out of tinfoil, what the heck is it made out of? Black crepe? Readers? -- in a few years, ObamaCare will totally shit the bed, because it will turn out that buying health insurance online through the health "exchanges" is a user interface design and technical nightmare as well as an open invitation to fraud and abuse via its intrinsic lack of transparency (the bullet points on the pretty web pages will be presented as the policy, but in fact the policy will be a humongous downloadable PDF file full of impenetrable jargon. After all, the insurance company business model of profiting through denying care will still prevail). ObamaCare -- I predict -- will come to be seen as a "creative class" welfare program boondoggle for IT people -- good for 2012 only -- but the onrushing disaster is not evident yet, and in any case, the fail will only kill off some undeserving poors. When the #FAIL becomes evident to people who matter, the Powers That Be will double down, on the theory that the problem isn't the frigging lemon markets in health care and health insurance, but "government itself." They then put the entire massively shatten bed out to bid, and Amazon takes it all over, with Medicare being one of the many "options," along with Walmart MediCash™ "clinics" of course. The "market state" plays the long game.

I like that, I should trademark it. Sounds like a payday loan place, doesn't it? In fact, I don't know why the payday loan people don't go into this business themselves. They could finance new teeth, or possibly medical care for some set period of time, with a kidney extraction, for example. The possibilities are endless!

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi

I'm not sure what would have been different if Romney were elected, and, in a system that we know going into it was binary, that was the other reality.

I do feel sorry for the remaining, what, 5% that actually "believeth" in this tool, but so far he is doing pretty close to exactly giving us the shit sandwich he said he would. A couple things I will note:

1. I haven't heard anything about war with Iran or Iranian nukes since the election. That is good, and one of the reasons I voted for this asshat. I don't want a(n escalated) war with Iran.

2. The Production Tax Credit for renewable energy was inserted into the fecal cliff bill. That is also good, and the main other reason I voted for this asshat.

Sorry, I don't fall in love with politicians. I'm not that desperate.....

That only 23% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction shows that there is significant discontent out there that just needs a focus to create real change. I see that as a hopeful sign. It shows that people aren't asleep. I just hope they are not resigned. I see a lot of our work as cutting through the BS, defining the problems, and showing there are real, workable solutions to them.

Summer is here so PLEASE help lambert...

... who still needs buy seeds and soil, especially since "Winter is coming," and pay the bills so he can feed the hamsters that power the wheels that turn the servers at The Mighty Corrente Building. Please, won't you help keep the hamsters shiny and well-fed?

No PayPal Account required! Give the hamsters immediate relief!

Or Subscribe to make a monthly payment!

Corrente is completely supported by contributions from readers (and, to be fair, a tiny smidge of Powell's commissions). We do not take advertising, so we can say whatever the Fuck we want. Thank you!

Kayfabe n. Via WikiPedia: "In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced /ˈkeɪfeɪb/) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true," specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not of a staged or pre-determined nature. Kayfabe has also evolved to become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the realm of the general public. ... Kayfabe is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non-wrestling aspects of promotions, such as feuds, angles, and gimmicks, in a manner similar to other forms of fictional entertainment," like electoral politics. Note that just as in professional wrestling, political kayfabe requires a willing suspension of disbelief by the audience/constituents, meaning complicity and/or doublethink. See Obot.

Citibank Plutonomy files

"What could go wrong?
Beyond war, inflation, the end of the technology/productivity wave, and financial collapse, we think the most potent and short-term threat would be societies demanding a more ‘equitable’ share of wealth."

Corrente Fellows (emeritus)

Nothing within this site or linked to by this site constitutes investment (snort) advice, or legal advice, or medical advice, or any kind of advice. BANKSTER WEASEL PROPHYLACTIC: The word "alleged" is deemed to occur before the word "fraud." Since the rule of law still applies. To peasants, at least.